After two years at a junior college, Cory Sims signed to play basketball at NIU. But it won’t be his first stint at a Division I school.

Sims, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound combo guard, averaged 21.5 points last season to lead Lewis & Clark to a 24-11 record and seventh-place finish at the junior college Division II national tournament.

Sims didn’t take the typical route of most prep players who attend junior colleges for basketball purposes. Usually used as a pit stop before entering a university, junior college – in basketball terms – is usually for non-academic qualifiers.

That’s why it is surprising to hear Sims was on an academic scholarship his first year after high school at Division I Alabama A&M.

“They said if I did good in [intramurals], they would give me a chance to walk on,” Sims said with his Southern drawl. “But they weren’t coming around, and they were talking slow. I wanted to play basketball, so I had to go somewhere else to play.”

Enter Lewis & Clark in Godfrey, where head coach Doug Stotler recruited Sims out of high school.

As a sophomore academically and a freshman athletically, Sims did spot-duty as a starter in his first year. His second year, he blossomed.

He was called one of the country’s top players after being named the XXIV Player of the Year, which goes to the top junior college player in southern and central Illinois.

“We watched a lot of different guys – high school guys as well as junior college guys – and we like Cory,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “He has the type of attitude where he’ll play wherever it will help the team.”

Going into his fourth year of college this fall, Sims said he wants to make an immediate impact because “it’s not like I’m a freshman.”

Now in DeKalb, he’ll never forget his first year of college at Alabama A&M.

“The first year … it was pretty tough going there and not playing basketball,” Sims said. “I love basketball so much and wanted to play it. I could see if they gave me an opportunity and I wasn’t doing nothing, but to not give me a chance?”

He may not be with the Bulldogs anymore, but his chance is right now – with a different breed of dog.